Desmond Swords

The Poetry Slam at Brogan's Bar in Dublin

Every Tuesday night Brogan's host the Poetry Slam night, Write & Recite, an open mic session where poets and punters can get up on the stage and compete against each other for a mystrery prize and coveted title of Grand Slam Poet. Entrance is free and the “Write & Recite” kicks off at 8.30pm. So, for a pub-crawl, after work drinks or night of poetry, Brogans is your only man.

From the website write-up for Brogans Bar in Dublin

Brogans
75 Dame Street,
Dublin 2.
Tel.: +353 (0) 1 679 9570  

 

 

Earlier this year Desmond Swords arrived in Dublin to sample the literary life of the city.  He described Brogans as the hot place in Irish poetry and this is his poeticv response to the Brogan's poetry Slam.

BROGANSLAM

Her face of flat black leather cap and spectacles
Sally, a willowy Miami Uni poetess
in V neck sweater, being
"perfectly average"
- a tinge of show off Spanish -
is verbally kicking Cuban Culture
in the good ole U S of A.

Next Irish up is Barry
a flop top of wedgey coiffure.
"My Alternative Life"
is a thump tup rant of masculine end rhyme
then he waxes "For Abbey"
before "Dave Franklin"
makes an appearance on his set list
bulls eye quiver rhyming "June" with "Moon."
I extemporise a write through of his words
snaffling them
"over the heads of old friends
turning into relationship."
His cessation makes way for Sweeney
from Tipperary
long scratched back curly hair
proclaiming "I'm so shocked"
coz she's selling "rock"
a point he makes the central thrusting conceit
of the warbling tune, injecting
the odd earthy word, before turning to
"CCTV" doing real time stage wise
although his words do not embrace
the ubiquitous proliferation
of the sensual explosion
and he wraps up knocking off a love one
which pricks to last beyond the
total of his moment.

David Noone takes the stage
straight from a moody shadow
Irish booze ad,
all black hair and knee length serge coat
to share his "Wanting"
a rant on Plath's poetics
before spouting "Starless"
a coffee shop composition
poured out in a mid Atlantic
elasticated bass warble.
"Cigarettes and Coffee"
is the lengthy drawn out repetitive finale,
his ramble lip synch swirling look
drawn from a drunken cut price vein
of the James O'Broin school
his manner, all savant like and
devoid of embarrassment
much like
MC Benelux Philpad
preceding, with a few fag quit verses
Aisling's
"What's it all about"
where her words veer toward
and away from slam and trad simultaneously